Members of the House of Representatives on Wednesday directed Nigerian Prison Service (NPS) and Federal Ministry of Women Affairs to make provisions for the feeding and welfare of babies delivered and living in prisons with their incarcerated mothers.
The resolution was passed following the adoption of a motion under matter of urgent importance titled: “Call for improvement of the living conditions of babies born and living with their mothers in prisons throughout the federation,” sponsored by Omosede Igbinedion.
The House also called on the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria to immediately ensure speedy trial of all pregnant women and nursing mothers awaiting trial in all the Nigerian prisons.
To this end, the House mandated its joint Committee on Interior, Women Affairs and Social Development to monitor compliance and report back to the House for further legislative action.
In his lead debate, Igbinedion, who cited the provisions of African Union on the Rights and Welfare of the Nigerian Child, 2013, lamented that a large number of children live in Nigerian prisons and detention centres throughout the federation along with their imprisoned mothers.
The lawmaker, who expressed concern over the plight of both the mothers and babies, noted that many of the prisons lacked basic facilities to cater for the female prisoners with their babies.
According to Igbinedion, toddlers have become a common sight in Nigerian prisons because relations of many female inmates hardly bother to show up to check on them, as some female prisoners go to jail with their children if they are too young to be left alone and if there is nobody willing to take care of the child.
She further observed that many of the babies behind bars look unkempt and poorly fed, while many had died in jail for lack of adequate medical care.
The lawmaker stated that many female prisoners in Nigeria were allowed to carry their pregnancy in jail and nurse their babies in prisons, while some of the women had their babies as young as two weeks old clutched to their chests when they were incarcerated.
Igbinedion, who called for urgent attention in addressing the challenge, argued that the distressed pregnant women would impact negatively on the unborn baby and threatened the survival and the physical and emotional development of the child.
